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 Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:08 am
 RP Type:: Private Location:: Café Jubilee, Isle de Gambino Featuring:: Natsuki, Kalindara & Tariel Beautiful beach front property in Isle de Gambino without a sold sign hanging on it was quite the rarity. However, thanks to a realtor friend of Natsuki’s parents, she managed to get a gorgeous slab of land for both her new home and the resurrection of her beloved Café Jubilee. With a more laid back clientele making the rounds, Natsuki didn’t need a large wait staff like the Durem incarnation of the café required. While she continued interviewing applicants for the available service positions, she took the time to run the café in a less harried manner, which helped her become acclimated to her new surroundings.
In her many ventures back to her hometown, she met many interesting and exciting people, especially those at the Lab events, both before and after the Lab exploded. One of which was a beautiful woman with red hair named, Kalindara. They met for a very brief moment at Kyou and Chloe’s birthday bash, and Natsuki got a glimpse of Kali’s gorgeous, young charge, named Tariel. She knew of their names from the party guest list that she obtained from Dr. Tsu. With the hustle and bustle of the party, Natsuki barely had time to breathe, let along maintain a long conversation with anyone except for Chloe, and that was only when she was dressing her friend, the birthday girl, up for the occasion.
She penned a formal letter of introduction to Kali and Tariel, inviting them to the café for tea and cake as her guests. In bubbly, yet legible penmanship, Natsuki thanked them again for attending the party, and explained how she was a guardian in waiting. Simply thinking about her own Raevan made her quite excited. Natsuki stood behind the bar, slicing up fresh lemon-raspberry squares while waiting for her VIPs to arrive.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:44 pm
Either Tariel was too young to know better, or she just had a thing for invitations, Kali decided. So here they were, tramping through the ever-busy Isle de Gambino no less.
Tari held the invitation delicately in her clawed hands, floating along behind the redhead. The slow bobbing included in her forward movement indicated her pleasure at the outing. A soft humming wafted forward to Kali, who winced.
Much to Kali's annoyance, Tari had so far been all angel and no sign of the warrior. Privately, she expected all that to change once Roth returned home and Tari met her demon brother. Now THAT should make things interesting.
"Here," Tari said, interrupting Kali's musing. It was a hard voice to ignore: softer and sweeter than the golden armour would suggest, but backed by an otherworldly chiming that laid proof to the multitude of angelic wings Tari possessed.
Kali hmphed and made her way back to the signless cafe. No wonder she had missed it, and Tari - with the hand-drawn map - had found it. "Shall we?" she asked her charge.
"Yes." Tari fluttered her back wings and flew forward into the cafe.
Kali sighed and followed at a slower pace. The things she did for her children.
"Excuse me," Tari tugged at the sleeve of a random waitress. "I'm looking for... Nat-SOO-kee?" she tried to pronounce the foreign name on the letter.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:10 pm
The waitress smiled softly greeting the beautiful raven haired girl and her redheadded counter part, nodding her head. Looking over her shoulder, the girl pointed to the copper haired woman behind the counter, busily slicing up pastries and filling up the glass display case.
At the sound of some redition of her name, Natsuki emerged from the counter, but only after wiping her hands clean and replacing her white costume gloves. Compared to her funky and wild blue ensemble from the previous party, Natsuki's outfit was merely a black and white maid's outfit, in a similar fashion to all the other female servers. The accents and ribbons were orange to match her vibrant hair. Seeing the familiar faces of the two girls from the party, she curtsied politely, nodding to the other server that she would take care of them.
"Miss Kalindara and Miss Tariel, welcome to Cafe Jubilee," she said politely, giving them her signature brilliant smile. "We have a wonderful table up on the second floor balcony for you to enjoy your tea. Follow me, please".
Natsuki motioned to the staircase curving up to the second floor. Like the chair backs, table legs, and window accents, scrolling metal frames decorated with flower garlands in a rainbow of colors filled the room. The scents of the flowers paled in comparison to the bewitchingly delicious smells emanating from the kitchen. The red carpeted stairs clearly indicated that the path to the second floor was not for everyone.
"Thank you for coming all this way," she said, leading her guests to the VIP staircase. "I hope you will enjoy your stay with us."
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:30 pm
"Thank you for your invitation." It was left to Kali to be the polite one, as Tari was now engrossed in staring at the cafe's decor. She followed after Natsuki. "Tari was very excited to receive another letter so soon after the party, not to mention seeing a new area of Gaia."
It was like taking a puppy into a new neighbourhood. It wanted to see, smell, touch everything and run wild all over the place. Speaking of...
Kali turned around close to the top of the stairs. Sure enough, a black and gold figure was down at the bottom, sticking her nose into flower arrangements.
"Tari," she called to her daughter.
The Raevan glanced up, beamed and quickly flated up the stairs. "Everything smells nice," she said to Natsuki. "Like a big garden."
"Watch your claws," Kali warned. The amount of things at home that had been destroyed... Kali didn't want a bill from this cafe stating how much she owed in damages.
"Yes," Tariel agreed with a smile. And immediately floated off, her attention caught by the view from the second story.
Kali sighed. Turning to their host, she said, "I do hope you are prepared for a child in a floating, adult body."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:14 am
"It's my pleasure, Miss Kalindara. The problem with large gatherings is that it's virtually impossible to get any sort of meaningful conversation going, without ignoring others," Natsuki replied politely, her grey eyes shining brightly. Despite her high heeled Mary Janes, the manager walked with soft steps on the wood flooring. She was completely composed until Kali drew her attention to Tari at the bottom of the staircase. Natsuki's pristine, older sister image crumbled into a giggle, watching the beautiful young maiden poke around the flowers like a little kitten chasing a butterfly.
"If you like gardens, Miss Tari, I have a special treat in store for you," Natsuki beamed, giving the young raevan a playful wink.
She motioned toward large white French doors at the far end of the VIP Area. A crisp sea breeze billowed the white lace curtains, framing the way to the Cafe's most precious locale, the garden balcony. Walking ahead of her guests, Natsuki drew back the curtains, revealing where the trio would be dining. Small cafe tables with umbrellas were nestled among lush flowers and trelises. Small butterflies danced among the flowers, and small tiled fountains were erected in several locations.
"I work in food service where I spend half the day baby-sitting lecherous college boys in a maid costume," Natsuki confided, shedding her picture perfect cafe persona for the more natural yet colorful tone. She found Tariel's enthusiasm and fervor unbelievably refreshing. Her past experiences with raevans included the aloof Vyn, the tempermental Roux, and the painfully shy Gage, so seeing the energetic girl, gave her so much hope. "If she has a refreshing spirit like Tariel, I will be so set for life. She certainly looks 'well-developed' for a child..."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:45 am
Privately, Kali thought the biggest problems with parties were all the people. This Natsuki seemed nice, if a little more cheerful and social than Kali's normal acquaintences. But she seemed to be dealing with Tari's quirks well enough, and that won Nastuki several points.
"I don't know if it's a child's curiosity, or something linking to the sakura tree her essence was found on," Kali mused. "So far she's had precious little to disturb or challenge her. Though she hasn't met her elder brother yet, so things will change when he returns."
The redhead snorted at the mention of Tari's bust size. "She has no idea what they're for, apart from getting in the way. I hope the male Raevans are just as clueless." Not that there was any danger of pregnancy, for obvious reasons. But Tari didn't need people after her cleavage while she was still too young and innocent to know why her breasts were so popular.
When the balcony was pointed out, Tariel made a happy sound before speeding out to take in the new views. Clawed hands trailed through the small fountains, before darting out after one of the butterflies.
"Careful," Kali broke into a trot to join her daughter. "Even human hands will hurt a butterfly."
Tari obediently snatched back her hands, keeping them close to her 'well-developed' chest. Either her newborn nature or her angelic one didn't deal well with the death of living things. Cups and remote controls could at least be replaced, but accidentally stabbing fish or small lizards had proven to be more catastrophic.
"Pretty," she smiled at Natsuki. "Nice garden."
"We're working on her vocabulary," Kali added quietly, for Nastuki's ears alone.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:45 am
"That sounds like a viable reasoning for her fascination. There is nothing more beautiful than a river lined with blossoming cherry trees in the spring," Natsuki smiled, setting the menus on the table and giving Tari an appreciative glance.
As the sunlight caught the young Raevan's golden armor, Natsuki winced at the flash of light. Taking a closer look at Tari's heavily armoured gauntlets, a brow quirked in curiosty. A smirk crossed her lips as Kali warned the child about the necessity of being delicate with touch. "She looks very strong, Kali. Would I be safe in guessing that the damaged buttons at the apartment complex were due to enthusiastic fingers?"
Natsuki snickered, thinking about what Kali said about Tari's bust size and how it might impact the other raevans, more specifically the male ones. She pondered what Noor's reincarnation would look like as the djinniyeh, too was physically similar to Tari before she died, well from the bust up at least. "I don't think there's much conern for the male raevans. Of the Frei I've met, they've either been interested in other boys, or indifferent all together."
"Thank you, Tariel," Natsuki said, when the young Frei complimented her garden. Though her vocabulary was growing slowly, the glow in the young maiden's eyes spoke volumes. Nodding in acknowledgement of Kali's whispered comment about vocabulary development, Natsuki smiled, "You are welcome to visit any time, if you like it here. Now let's eat!" Setting a pair of menus on the table, Natsuki motioned to the chairs, beckoning her guests to sit down and select their favored dessert.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:03 am
Tari perked up a the mention of cherry trees, but when she realised there weren't any around, went back to her exploring.
"You think the elevator buttons are bad, you should see my house," Kali replied. It wasn't Tari's fault, but it was a good thing that Kali could afford to replace all the damaged objects. It was also a very good thing she'd been able to keep Tari away from Roth's room - no sense inviting even more trouble by letting her break his precious shinies. "It's not really an over-enthusiasm as it is simply trying to use normal strength and not realising how sharp those things are."
True enough, when Kali had met Zavier, he'd been trying to keep away from everyone. Roux didn't have much of an interest in anything that wasn't a frozen liquid or icy dessert. But surely one of the males would eventually find some hormones.
"Uh, I'm not sure how the eating will go," Kali warned as Tari floated over. "She doesn't have a digestive system really..."
Nevertheless, they both accepted menus (Tari being very gentle with hers and letting her mother turn the page). Kali chose a slice of Death By Chocolate Raspberry Death cake. When she prompted Tari if anything looked interesting, Tari simply pointed to the listing for sakura tea.
Kali shrugged. "We'll see if she actually dirnks any, or just wants to see the petals floating in it."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:11 am
"Wow, that was her normal strength? I'd be interested to see what sort of damage those claws do if she gets upset, bot obviously in a wide open space without any valuable items," Natsuki said, writing down the orders down carefully on her note pad. A wicked smile grew when Kali selected the latest creation from Natsuki's kitchen, which was the featured flavour of the month.
"Gives a whole new meaning to 'Cake of Death...' Would you like your Death by Chocolate Raspberry Death Cake served warm with hot raspberry fugde drizzle," Natsuki asked, looking up from her memo pad. With the sunlight in her gray eyes, they appeared almost as clear as the water from the fountains. She tipped the pen and tossed her head to the left with first option, and then both slanted to the right as she proposed the other option, "Or chilled with a raspberry-cocoa mousse topping?"
Furling her brow slightly, she remembered her tea with Chloe and Roux. Roux could process simple food items, so hopefully it wouldn't pose a problem for Tariel. "Chloe's raevan, Roux, can ingest simple food items like ice cream or popsicles. Perhaps, Tariel can do the same, if she's favoring sakura, the cherry tea would be perfect. Nice and simple."
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 11:09 pm
(*inserts transcript*) Kalindara & Tariel Kali considered her cake choices. Her decision was eventually made based on thw weather. "Chilled, thank you." It just wasn't the weather for hot dessert at lunch. "Oh?" she cocked a brow at the mention of other Raevans eating. This was one of those things she really should have asked Kyou or Tsu about before leaving with Tariel. At some point, they'd have to meet up with these other Raevans, too. Perhaps interacting with her own kind would help Tari's development. "I'm not entirely sure what she favours elementally, only mentally." True to Kali's words, Tari perked up at the mention of sakura. "Sakura!" Kali decided to prove her point. "Look at that." "Butterflies!" Her several sets of wings moved slightly - not as fluidly as 'real' feathered wings, but enough to show that there was purpose and movement to them, despite being metal. "No, stay in your seat," Kali said as Tari made to chase the winged creatures. "It's rude to leave before your waitress. Show Natsuki your good manners." Tari "sat" in the chair and beamed at their host. "Sorry, Nat-soo." Hopefully she'd still get her yummy sounding tea. Whatever tea was. Natsuki "Chilled it is then. I'll be back in a jiffy," Natsuki said with a polite nod, and a giggle when Tariel apologized. Pushing a bit of her fringe to the side, Natsuki smiled, watching Tariel's metallic wings flexing and flutter in the sunlight. The waitress laughed to herself, thinking she might need to invest in sunglasses while the warrior angel relaxed on the sunny balcony. Putting her hand, lightly on Tariel's shoulder, she wrinkled her nose in amusement. "How could I be upset at such a brilliant smile, Tariel? You have excellent manners."
Nodding again, Natsuki scooted backwards until she reached the doors. Bowing again, she vanished behind the lace curtains. Withing several minutes, the manager returned with their order, rolling it out on a small gilded cart with a table cloth.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Ladies," Natsuki apologized, walking lightly across the wooden floor. The cart moved effortlessly, gliding along silently. Rolling the cart to a stop, she gingerly set the table, laying down cute, linen placemats and napkins, quickly followed by the necessary flatware. "Here is your sakura tea, Tariel," she said, setting a tea cup with saucer and a small ceramic pot of tea in front of the raevan. Inside the teacup, a small bundle of dried cherry petals lay sleeping. With a wink to Kali, Natsuki picked up the small tea pot and motioned to the cup, "Watch this..."
Hot water poured into the cup, and the subtle scent of sakura danced on the sea breeze. The dried petals in the bottom of the cup soaked up the water and the bundle blossomed into a miniature pool of floating cherry petals. The tea was faintly tinted pink. Setting the pot back on the table, Natsuki motioned to the sugar and milk caddy. Inside the glass sugar dish, a virtual rainbow of sugar with white sugar stars awaited their destiny. "Please be careful. The tea is a hot, and so are the cup and the pot."
Turning her attention to Kali, she served up a massive slice of Deathly Delight, topped in chilled topping. From the cart, Natsuki pulled out a special treat for Kali: A tall, star shaped glass brimming with berry juice, star shaped ice cubes and gummy candies, and a massive scoop of ice cream. The condensation beaded atop the frosty glass as she carefully set down a large, rubber coaster and the glass atop it. "I'd like you to try this for me. It's going to be one of the new menu items, so it's on the house. It's called a Raspberry Star Shower. I hope you like it. Is there anything else?" Kali & Tari When her manners were praised, Tariel turned a big smile first on Natsuki, then on her mother. Kali shot her daughter an arch look as Natsuki disappeared to bring their orders. She wasn't going to allow Tari to act up just because someone else was taken in by the angelic routine. Smug as Tari may be about the cafe manager's support, Kali was still the mother around here. Her look seemed to advise her daughter that Kali was the one that Tari had to live with. Tari's smile dimmed somewhat, as she practised an innocent expression. 'Who me?' her eyes asked. 'Never!' Kali sighed and shook her head. Leaning back in her chair, she took in the view. It must have cost a pretty penny to get a location like this. Business seemed to be booming, though, so no doubt Natsuki was making her money back. It wasn't long before Natsuki returned and laid out the cafe's delicacies. Tari's eyes widened as her tea was poured, sakura petals swirling on the liquid's surface. Leaning closer, she sniffed at it, confirming the contents, then hummed in pleasure. She wasn't sure what the sugar was, but the white stars were pretty, so she added some to her drink. Grabbing a teaspoon, she stirred the drink, giggling as the stars danced around in the sea of petals. Kali gave an indulgent smile before turning to her own food. She raised an eyebrow at the drink. "That's... quite an artwork you have there." Indeed, Kali wasn't sure she'd ever seen something so grandiose as a drink before. Gamely, she took a sip. Surprise crossed her features as berry flavours burst on her tongue. "I think you have a hit," she said as she gave the creator a small smile. "I don't think we'll need anything else - I'm not game enough to try Tari on food just yet. Won't you sit and join us, though?" Natsuki "I'm glad you like it, Kali. I have to be a little creative with my recipes and presentation in order to keep people coming back for more. I need to be since my competition took it upon themselves to burn down my last cafe." Natsuki grinned proudly, rolling the cart to the side. Giving a small sigh and a shurg, she continued, "I would love to join you. Just allow me to get something to drink, it's a bit warm today."
Natsuki excused herself again, and disappeared behind the curtains once more. When she returned, a large star shaped glass of her own filled with bright green soda and orange stars balanced effortlessly on a tea tray with some small butter cookies on the side. Setting her items down on the trolley, she quickly set a third place at the table and joined her guests.
"I am glad you were able to come out today," she smiled, setting a napkin across her apron. Carefully mixing the melon soda with the vanilla ice cream, she looked at Kali and Tariel with appreciation, as she always loved receiving praise on her concoctions. "If you don't mind my asking, could you tell me a little about yourselves? What things do you enjoy?" Kali & Tari Her hobbies? Solitude. Research. Psychological torture of her children. "Well, I'm a mage," Kali did her best to be diplomatic. "It keeps me busy. I lose track of time when I'm in my workshop. Other than that, I suppose raising my son removed much other opportunity for hobbies." Tari perked up in interest at the mention of her brother. She had yet to meet him - he was older, and away, her mother had said. She also tended to give an evil chuckle after mentioning him, which Tari didn't understand. He must be a wonderful person! She couldn't wait to meet him. Strangely, that only made Kali laugh more before stifling it and agreeing that it would be a meeting to remember. "Tari likes!" the Raevan piped up, then had to pause and think. "Um... Sakura! ... Butterflies!" she pointed at the insects fluttering around the garden still. "Hair!" Kali blinked at the last. Natsuki "Wow, I've never met a real mage before. Met plenty of weirdos claiming they were, but had no skills to back up the checks their mouths were writing," Natsuki nodded, listening to Kali with rapt interest. The cafe owner thrived on meeting new people, and making new friends and allies. Her face warmed with another smile as Kali mentioned having another child. "You have two children? That's surprising! How do you manage to keep such a youthful appearance?" Between the mysterious gree cup sitting on her kitchen table, and the raeven materials that were left at the now blown up Lab, Natsuki was wondering if she'd even make a decent parent. In the hurry to relocate, she managed to throw a surprise party for her friends, Chloe and Dr. Kyou, hire a new training manager, Shuura, and have several friends over for afternoon tea. However, she had completely forgotten to ask Chloe about the status of her own raevan. When Lazarus blew up the lab, her rainbow essence and Noor's soul were being processed, so life could emerge from them. What kind of parent forgets to check on something like that!? Shaking her negative thoughts from her head, she sipped her drink as Tari chimed in. "Well, you are welcome to come and play with the flowers and butterflies here when you have free time, Tari," Natsuki beamed, her attention following the glinting armored finger, watching the butterflies bounce around the flowers. A small snort of amusement tickled her nose at Tari's last favorite thing. Hair? If Natsuki didn't adore the young raevan enough, that pushed her over the edge. The cafe manager smiled, as her gray eyes fell upon Tariel's sleek, black hair. What was her secret to a such finely kept coiffe? "What do you like about hair, Tari?" Natsuki asked, popping a heaping spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and chewing softly. Kali & Tari Kali allowed a smile small to grace her lips as she spooned a smouth piece of cake to her mouth. "Most real mages won't go around announcing it. My profession isn't quite as secret as it used to be, however, thanks to socialising with the rest of my son's race." The cafe manager had no idea how old Kali truly was. Kali found the thought amusing, but didn't let too much of it show. "Both my children are adopted. I was gifted with my son around three years ago. Of course, he's no more human than Tariel here, so he's aged much more rapidly than a human child would. He's practically an adult now." But still a baby compared to Kali, of course. Roth still knew better than to mess with this mama dragon. "Like?" Tari repeated. "Hmm." She sunk into thought, playing with strands of her own hair. "Shiny. And pretty colours. Lots of different." She paused, then added, "Tasty." Kali coughed as she swallowed her drink the wrong way. "You don't eat hair," she informed her daughter sternly. Tari's innocent face returned. She quickly dropped the handful of hair she had. Natsuki "I look forward to getting to taking care of my own adopted children soon, and I hope that if you and Tariel are willing, we'd be able to arrange a playdate with my Raevan when it comes home," Natsuki smiled, plucking up a cookie from the tea tray and nibbling on it thoughtfully. Excitment bubbled in her voice as Natsuki took Tariel's beauty in. Simply thinking about her own raevan made her rather giddy, especially knowing how fantastic the soul she captured was. "You're more than welcome to come here at any time."
Listening to Tariel rattle off the reasons for her fascination with hair, Natsuki fought with her smile.. Her train of thought was fluild, and its organization was in a stream of consciousness manner. Natsuki nodded in agreement, but jumped from the train when Tariel said 'Tasty'. Perhaps with the right sort of organic, homemade shampoo and conditioner, that might be accurate, but then again, Natsuki had no idea what hair tasted like. "Do you like to play with your hair, Tariel?" Nastuki asked, spotting a butterfly hovering above the raevan's head. The vibrant colors stood out against the raevan's ink black hair. "What combination of elements is she, Kali?" Natsuki inquired discretely, her eyes wide with wonder. "She truly is a beautiful girl." Kali & Tari "Of course," Kali replied to the request for Raevan meetings. "Tari seems to like the idea, and it is best if she meets more of her own race." Indeed, Tari had perked up at the idea, hovering several feet above her chair. "More like Tari? Meet, meet!" Despite her childlike nature, being so newly born, Tari was aware that most others didn't fade into glowing runes and ribbons where their ribs ended. She'd been told she was a different race, like butterflies were different from birds. While she didn't see any issues with being different races, she was obviously looking forward to seeing another 'butterfly' instead of more 'birds'. "Her fel essence is... hard to explain," Kali sipped her drink and replied. "Dr. Kyou said he found hair on a sakura branch, and that the hair was still growing. So which part is the actual essence is still a bit confusing to me. For her soul, I used my son and an acquaintence of his to capture the soul of a warrior angel. That's where she gets her wings and sharp claws from." She paused. "Of course, he's a demon, so he was just bait in my plan." Kali let out an evil chuckle. Thankfully Tari wasn't paying attention to her mother's words or change in emotion. She was far too busy going cross-eyed staring at the butterfly which had moved to land on her nose. Natsuki "Wonderful! I have no idea when my raevan will be coming home though, as the Lab blew up shortly before the birthday party," Natsuki sighed, noshing on her drink and cookies some more. "Though, I've been reassured that my elements are safe."
Natsuki listened to Kali's recount of how she went about capturing Tariel's warrior angel soul. What a magnificent soul to add to the mysterious hair on the sakura tree. Natsuki identified with the Japanese element within the raevan. She chuckled to herself, as Tari's luxurious black hair made her look more Japanese that Natsuki was, and she was pure blooded, Japanese decent. "When I look at her, I think of my ancestors. Her gentle face and jet black hair remind me of princesses of a time long lost." Her brow rose with interest as Kali joked about her demonic son being bait for the warrior angel. Normally, she'd think calling a child demonic would be a euphamism, but she realized that somethings could be taken at face value.
"I caught the soul of a marid djinniyeh, a female djinn. It was far more complicated and emotional than I would have expected, especially since the Marid are the most powerful of their race. She didn't put up a fight at all because she wanted to be freed," Natsuki said wistfully, holding her spoon up to her lips in thought. A bemused smile returned as she took in Tariel and her new butterfly companion. "I think Tari's made a new friend. If you stay very still in the sunlight, sometimes more butterflies may land on you. They like the warmth, and most likely they love sakura like you do." Kali & Tari "I hadn't heard that." Kali ceased eating at the news about the lab. Hopefully nothing important had been destroyed, or at least if it had been it could be rebuilt. She didn't like to think about Tari being unable to grow. Or worse, if anything went wrong, where would she go to get a Raevan expert's opinion? She eyes her daughter and hoped Tari wouldn't suddenly get sick. "I hope they find a new place for a lab soon." Tari frowned slightly at being called a princess. "No princess. Wor- waw-," she paused and pouted. Some words were too difficult for now. "Fighter." "Warrior?" Kali asked. Tari nodded. "That." "Guess the idea of waiting around in a palace while others do the fighting doesn't appeal to her." Kali perked when the waitress explained her own soul choice. Djinns... weren't they demons from another country? Not something Kali would have guessed for the energetic waitress. Still, it sounded intriguing. Maybe this bubbly human had darker depths than the mage thought. Should make an interesting playmate for Tari, in any case. Natsuki "I talked with Chloe briefly at the party, and the staff is holding up well, but they are in the process of sorting out what to do about replacing the lab. Thankfully no one was hurt, well, except the emotional damage to Dr. Kyou when his hair got singed into an afro," Natsuki said reassuringly, trying not to poke too much fun at the poor doctor's unfortunate coiffe. "I remember some drunken girl giving me a cheque for six million gold. Unfortunately, I was drunk and soaking wet with alcohol, when I absent mindedly tucked the cheque into my bra. I woke up the next morning having to remove a rather large plaster from my chest. Unfortunately, as more pieces came off, they got smaller and smaller."
Natsuki wanted to feel guilty about the cheque incident, but she didn't she found scraps of another check in the bushes outside the party with bits and pieces of Shuura's name written in the blank. Giving a shrug, she let it slip from her mind like water off a duck's back, and gave the raevan and her mother a reassuring smile. "Not all princesses lounge around the castle waiting for Prince Charming though," Natsuki mused, wrinkling her nose in amusement. "There was the Greek Warrior Princess, Xena. I think I have those DVDs laying about if Tari wants to watch them when she's older."
Finishing off her massive drink, she cleared the empty glass and picked up a pitcher of raspberry lemonade and a tall frosted glass. Filling up her glass, she plucked out a couple of berries and a slice of lemon from the pitcher using the ice tongs. Garnishing was the coup de grace to a killer drink.
"Finding djinn in this part of the world is extremely rare, though. I came upon Noor Jawahir, purely by accident," Natsuki said, swirling the fruits around in witha spoon. "I bought a funky tea decanter called 'The Tea Genie', and I got the shock of my life when it turned out not to be just a catchy name." Kale & Tari Kali was unnerved by the knowledge that the lab was destroyed. She was a mage, not a scientist - what was she supposed to do if something happened to Tariel? Go read a "Biology for Dummies" book? Her library of demonic tomes would NOT be useful. "I do hope they can relocate soon," she said, stirring her tall drink. "Is it an issue of funds, or just finding the right location? Maybe the doctors should speak to this girl with the six million gold checks." Waving the strands of hair in her fist, Tari leaned forward to sniff at her sakura tea, her nose almost touching the liquid as she chased the familiar scent. A pink tongue darted out to lick a floating petal. The petal was so small, and the movement so fast that an onlooker might have doubted their eyesight - surely the petal hadn't disappeared when touched? The act of physically eating must have occurred too quickly for the eye to see, surely that was it! People didn't just go around absorbing flowers, after all, not even half-formed angels. Sitting back in her seat, Tari gave a serene smile, then turned to Natsuki. "Geek princess?" "Greek," Kali correctly, lips twitching. Natsuki "If its the same girl from the birthday bash, she gave me another
check for six mill before she left with cake," Natsuki confided in a
wicked giggle. "Unfortunately, I tucked it into my dress and forgot
about it, while I cleaned up with We'rika and Ravi. Some yahoo caused
me to spill some drinks on myself and Julian, so it got glued to my
chest." Normally, such antics would have been too embarrassing to
tell, but there was something about Kali that brought out the little
minx in her. She kept her giggled inside as she explained the
methodical removed and how it failed terribly, resulting in the check
being shredded into consecutively smaller pieces. "It was like a never
ending plaster bandage. I don't think its money, and I am certain the
place was insured."
Out of the corner of her eye, Natsuki caught the evaporation of the
sakura petal as Tariel tried drinking her tea. Her brows arched in
surprise as it merely vanished to the touch. The manager hoped that
the same thing won't happen to the cherry trees in the spring, as
their blooming time was limited enough. She was certain that the young
raevan would thrive in spring. Her eyes sparkled when Tariel replied,
albeit incorrectly. The bubbly cuteness was simply too much for her.
Her heart went out of Kali, who seemed a bit concerned about the
grammatical misses the young raevan was making.
"Very close, but Kali's right," Natsuki said, adjusting her glasses
with a light push up her nose. "It's Greek. A nation of people from
old times. If you like adventure stories, I think you'd enjoy them."
The trio enjoyed their desserts, pleasant conversation, and the sunshine. - [ Fin ] -
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